[Gimp-web] http://registry.gimp.org:81 - goal for 2.4?

[Raphaël Quinet]

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:48:13 -0300, Guillermo Espertino <gespertino at gmail.com> wrote:
> The port issue seems to be the most critic.
> The ability of uploading images would be a great addition (the current 
> registry uses external links and that means an additional step to view 
> examples, so having those images illustrating the plugin in the same 
> page would be nicer.

Yes, that would be nice.  There could be a limit on the number and size
of images included to describe the plug-in.  If we want to ensure that
these images are not too distracting so that it is still possible to
browse a list of plug-ins easily without having to skip over large
images, then we could have a rather strict limit of just one small
thumbnail-sized image for each plug-in.  For example, one image that
would be less than 150x100 so that it could be displayed inline on the
right side of the plug-in description.  That image could link to a
version of the same image in higher resolution.

> Maybe a template for the examples should be 
> designed, in order to keep the visual style of the site consistent.

I agree.  Using a consistent style for the description of all plug-ins
and scripts will help users to find what they are looking for.  And the
site will look better.

> btw, I have a question. In what extent 2.0 and previous versions are 
> still being used to justify mantaining the plugin repository support for 
> them?
> Maybe it's time to deprecate pre 2.2 versions and put the focus on 2.2 
> and 2.4

Unfortunately, I know a group of about 100 users who are still using
the old gimp 1.2.x (that's more than 5 years old) and cannot upgrade
due to stupid administrative reasons.  Fortunately their main job is
not related to graphics design.  But preventing access to the old
plug-ins would be bad for those users.

> Even if I'm wrong and there is a reasonable number of users of the 
> previous versions that justify keeping those resources online, the 
> version should be the hierarquically the main item to filter the results 
> displayed. If I'm a 2.4 version, I want to find plugins for 2.4, not for 
> previous versions, so that selection should be somewhere in the 
> beginning, filtering all the results.

All GIMP 2.x versions are supposed to be backwards compatible. This
means that a plug-in written for 2.0 can still be used with 2.4.  Of
course there may be some minor changes that make compilation difficult
and the reorganization of the menus will probably make the plug-in
appear in the wrong place, but at least it should work.  I agree that
it is better to show first the plug-ins for the most appropriate GIMP
version.  But excluding the others would be a mistake.  They should be
displayed at the end of the list, maybe using some visual clues that
make them look less interesting/important for the user.

> Another suggestion: The visual theme of the repository should match the 
> new website design (http://next.gimp.org). Everything would look more 
> integrated and "professional".

Right.  This is not so important, but it would be nice to use a common
style in all "official" GIMP sites.

-Raphaël